The spread of the internet of things will impact not only retail, but also the relationship consumers have with products and services. A new commercial arena will appear, since the Just in Time concept, that had its terminal station in stores, will have a new terminal station, which is people ́s home. Considering only the domestic impact the internet of things might have in the near future, some matches between prompt delivery and product quality standards loom ahead.
Culturally, home is the place people try to select the best food and drinking (pleasure or nutrition) and where people dream everything is provided. The just in time at home the internet of things will enable will help people accomplish the ideal of having the best at home everyday.
By controlling their home devices remotely, consumer’s sense of convenience will be transformed. Some tasks previously delegated to the industry, such as providing packed food and drink, may be replaced by automatic supply and order. Packed juices, for instance, may be replaced by a remotely controlled fruit squeezer, that makes juices at home out of fruits delivered door-to-door once the same device notices any shortage of supply.
Other than convenience, the balance between health and indulgence may gain an ally. Family keepers always worry to balance what is tasteful and what helps their families grow healthier. Today, this balance, however, tend not to be objective. By controlling the amount of calories delivered home, or cooked in a pam, or stored in a fridge, family keepers will better control the products that are welcome in their homes. And all that will be stored in a cloud for future records.
Moreover, a rational layer may be added to consumption. The control of calories, of minimum and maximum price of remotely and automatically ordered goods will be automatically set, bypassing all seduction tactics of in-store selling. A new era of rational approach and commoditization of goods may come and new opportunities of symbolic value creation in this new comercial arena called home will have to be unveiled.
More than ever, products will have to focus on what they deliver best to help people tell their own stories in their homes. Exact consumer needs will have to be met cheaply, rapidly and reliably. Going back to basics and communicating why a product is distinctive in people’s lives will be crucial. By remotely delegating part of a home supply to devices, the iconographies and sensations products provide had better be perfectly embedded in people’s minds when they click a remote command of buying more.